Warrior Saga: Ember
by Lady Artimes Blaine
Summary: Haunted by horrific and violent dreams, Artimes seeks help from the only man who had lived through her nightmares, The Doctor. Armed with a Whovian's knowledge, she tries her best to aid him in saving others, but what will she do when they are forced onto the Game Station? A question burns in her mind: Who was The Warrior? *Second in the Warrior Saga*
1. Chapter 1: My Past Is Your Future

Lady A: Hello everyone and welcome to Warrior Saga: Ember! Now, I know you guys are wondering why I am posting the second installment of the Warrior Saga before Rebirth is even finished. The answer is simple, though you don't know what happened during the Time War, I can still do the normal stuff with a few minor mentions here and there. Most of you will be like what the heck at the beginning of this chapter but just roll with it.

Looking Forward: Artimes Blaine, or should I say Artimes Tyler, grows up alongside the Doctor's first companion, Rose Tyler. So far, so obvious. Now, Artimes will have some very unusual encounters that will reveal several hints about her future and some about her past as well.

Now on with the show!

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Chapter One: My Past Is Your Future

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'People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff.'

The Doctor had been right about time being a bit wonky, especially with her recent encounters but that didn't explain what had happened to her in the beginning. Her name was Artimes Blaine, at least it used to be. She was a twenty five year old woman with dark blonde hair and forest green eyes. She was tucked into her bed after watching a marathon of her favorite shows with her elder brother, Trinity, and she went to sleep. This is where her story goes completely mental…when she woke up the next morning.

Artimes had found herself in the body of an eight year old girl with auburn hair and had two streaks of platinum blonde in the front. Her forest green eyes had changed to sapphire blue as well. She had, what appeared to be, a bigger on the inside messenger bag that only she could see and dressed in a simple long sleeved shirt and pants. She had no recollection of how she ended up in an alleyway in London rather than in her bed in Tampa, Florida nor did she have any idea on how she was transformed from a twenty five year old woman into an eight year old child.

She spent months wandering around on her own, trying to survive the best she could. Her world went topsy turvy once again when she crossed paths with one Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler, known to the rest of the universe as Jackie Tyler and mother to Rose Tyler, first companion of the Doctor after the Time War.

Thus began the two year campaign of trying to find 'her family'. Artimes had lied and said that she didn't remember anything but that she knew her name was Artimes. Her problems escalated when no trace of her existence could be found in any database, both local and international. She simply didn't exist and because of her American accent, the social workers were thinking about deporting her rather than sticking her into the British child services. Jackie caught wind of this and gave them a living hell for three months straight. Finally it was decided by the elder Tyler that she would simply adopt Artimes and be done with it. That was how she became Artimes Tyler, elder sister to Rose Tyler who was now six years old while Artimes was ten.

Now most Whovians would be overjoyed to meet the incredible and fantastic Rose Tyler, but the now ginger was pretty certain that they wanted to meet the blonde as an adult, not as a child. Little Rose turned out to be the shy, quiet type with a fondness for fairy tales. She also didn't like science fiction, something about how aliens scared her. Oh, the irony of the entire situation.

Over the years, the two became good friends and were hardly seen from the other's company. Artimes took up the mantle of protector and defender to her now baby sister. When her Rosie was bullied at school, she not only defended her but taught the bullies a lesson in manners. When the blonde had trouble with her schoolwork, Artimes spent the painstakingly long hours teaching her how to do it. When ex boyfriends just couldn't take a hint and back off, the ginger learned martial arts and taught them a lesson they would never forget and sent a clear message to their peers: Harm Rose Tyler and sign your own death certificate.

In time, Rose grew out of her shyness and into the bold and confident woman that Artimes had seen from the show. There were some minor differences in her personality, mainly in relation to how she viewed her sister and what she would do for said sister. The duo were rarely separated, if ever, and Rose was always insisting that Artimes go everywhere with her, even to those horrendous parties that young people did. In the ginger's head, she was forty years old and she was physically only twenty three. She was frankly bored and slightly disgusted by the ever increasing range of vulgarity that would arise at these social get togethers.

It was December 31, 2004 and once again, Rose had dragged to yet another party. Near midnight, Artimes decided to leave, knowing Rose would go home shortly. The ginger knew that this was a very special night. It was the night that she would finally get proof about whether or not the Doctor was real. She had no doubt that Rose would tell her about the strange occurrence with a brown haired man in a suit tomorrow morning. She just wished she could be there to see him too, but it was best to avoid the temptation.

Artimes walked down the snowy street, shivering slightly from the wind. She glanced at her watch. It read 12:14 am, meaning it was New Year's Day. She was caught off guard when she heard a man grunting in pain. She whirled around quickly, slipping slightly in the snow. Her heart sped up at the sight of the Tenth Doctor leaning heavily against the brick wall of a building. Why was he there? He should have been with Rose, not her. She had to shove down every instinct she had to simply not run up to him and hold him.

She had always been able to read the Doctor like an open book and in that moment, she could see how much pain he was in, both physically and emotionally. She couldn't chance him learning about her foreknowledge just in case he didn't know, so she decided to follow the script for the scene.

"Are you alright?" She asked trying to sound slightly concerned rather than worried out of her mind.

"You and I both know what's happening, Artz." He answered shocking her.

Her eyes widened as he hunched over in pain. She couldn't stand seeing him like that so she threw caution to the wind and ran over to him. She wrapped her arms around him and they both slid to the ground, the Doctor sitting properly on the ground while she was stuck with one leg underneath her and the other slightly wrapped around him for stability.

"How did you know? Did I tell you?" She asked honestly confused.

"It's a long story and I can't explain most of it, but in the next few years that we are together, no you didn't tell me." He answered holding on to her arms and breathing heavily.

"Then how do you know?" She demanded wanting to know exactly how and when she told the Doctor so she could create a stable time loop.

He looked straight into her eyes, trying to get her to understand that he couldn't tell her.

"Spoilers?" She whispered and he nodded.

"Why are you alone? What happened to me and don't even think about lying. I know you too well for that to work." She continued becoming increasingly worried about how warm he felt.

He was far too hot and it was either due to the radiation he absorbed to save Wilfred or from his soon to be regeneration. He pulled her into a hug, his scorching hot skin pressing against her own chilled skin and she felt him silently sobbing. She swallowed hard, realizing that whatever had happened to her, it must have been really, really bad.

"Tell me…please." She urged.

"I left you. I left you behind…I abandoned you in 2059." He answered his voice thick with emotions.

"The Waters of Mars, Captain Adelaide Brooke, and the Timelord Victorious." She replied, "Why did you leave me behind?"

He took in a shuddering breath, most likely remembering what he had done.

"The last remnant of who I was wanted to save you…save you from myself, but it didn't matter. You still…"He responded stopping as he rode out another wave of pain.

"What happened to me, Theta?" Artimes demanded brushing her fingers through his damp hair, trying to soothe him as best she could.

"Caan, he warned me. He said the Children of Time would gather and the most faithful of them all would die." The Doctor answered.

"Donna." She responded instantly, remembering what happened in Journey's End.

"No, there's more. He said 'On the day of victory, one will still die." He replied pulling back to look at her, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

She stared at him in confusion. He had said that he abandoned her, but Caan said one would die on the day of victory. How did that even compute? What the hell happened to her?

"You left me, Theta. You didn't kill me." She countered trying to sort out all the information he was giving her.

"I killed you in the worst way possible, but it doesn't matter because I'm going to change it. I will save you." He stated firmly.

What did he mean, 'the worst way possible'? He wasn't making any sense. All the information she was getting was contradicting itself. Did she die or didn't she? She was so damn confused, but she needed to stop him from altering his own past.

"No, Theta, you can't. You'll be crossing into your own timeline. You'll punch a hole in the universe, reality will collapse. I'm not worth it!" She replied.

"You are always worth it!" He countered angrily, his eyes blazing.

"Why?" She demanded tears beginning to form in her eyes, "Tell me why I'm worth destroying the universe for."

He leaned forward and whispered something into her ear. It was kind of long, twenty eight syllables roughly, but the language was unlike anything she had ever heard before. It sounded so ancient and yet powerful, floating through the air like a song or a hymn. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as realization dawned on her face. He pulled back, his chocolate brown eyes full of warmth and love. Her breath caught in her throat as her heart pounded harshly in her chest.

"Was that…that was…why?" She asked completely blinded sided by what he had just done.

He gave her his trademark charming smile, making her blush.

"You know why." He answered softly.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and before she could stop herself, she slammed her lips onto his. The kiss was deep and desperate, heartfelt and full of longing and promise. They broke apart as he grunted in pain, his entire body going rigid.

"You don't have much time." She whispered her eyes never leaving his, "I don't want you to be alone."

"I won't be. You'll be there." He replied stroking her face.

"I can't change your mind, can I? You're gonna go through with it." She asked already knowing the answer.

He kissed her again, softly and far more gentle than before.

"My Artz." He whispered almost reverently.

"My Theta." She replied.

"Run. Run, you clever girl, and remember me." He spoke softly.

She stared at him, her face blank from shock. She had heard those words before, but not from him. Those words rattled her to her very core.

"Go. Go now. Run!" He ordered pushing her away.

She rose to her feet, her hands still holding his. She couldn't just leave him. It went against everything inside her to just abandon him, especially while he was in so much pain.

"I…I can't. I can't leave you. Not like this." She replied tears continuing to fall.

His expression softened and his eyes shined with gratitude.

"You have to. You've got all that to come. You and me, time and space…you watch us run." He responded smiling at her.

She let out a weak chuckle, a small smile making its way onto her lips.

"Now I know the world is ending, because you're quoting River." She countered cheekily.

He chuckled softly at that.

"Seemed appropriate." He replied.

She stared at him sadly, her heart and mind in chaos, before leaning down and kissing him one last time. She pulled back slightly, her lips still hovering above his.

"I love you, Theta. Always have and always will. Remember that." She spoke softly.

The Doctor pulled her forward in to a bruising kiss that would undoubtedly leave her lips swollen and red. It lasted for a good thirty seconds. She pulled away harshly, forcing herself away from him, and wiping away her tears.

"See you soon, Spaceman." She said giving him a wide grin before turning around and running away.

She thought she heard him say 'I love you' but she chalked it up to her imagination, knowing that this particular regeneration could never say it, and ran all the way back to the Powell estate. She didn't bother going up to the flat, instead she ran around it several times. She was doing everything she could to force herself to forget how she just left him there on his own. She didn't feel the cold seeping deep into her core or the wind stinging harshly on her face. She didn't even feel how her legs began to ache or how her lungs were burning from the exertion.

At around 4:30 in the morning, her run was interrupted by her slamming into someone. She had started to apologize to the person but all words died in her throat when she looked up. Standing before her was the Eleventh regeneration of the Doctor. He was smiling at her and his eyes were soft and warm.

"Theta." She said breathlessly, her breath coming out in thick white puffs.

"You've been running for the last four hours in the cold. You're gonna make yourself sick." He said softly, his tone kind and filled with worry.

"I just did something I thought I would never do. I ran away from you. I think I'm entitled to this brief span of stupidity." She replied making him smile at her, "Did your plan work? Did you save me?"

She couldn't recognize the emotions that flitted across his eyes. There were simply too many all merged together at once.

"Yes and no. Turns out, you didn't need saving and in the end, you saved me…like you always do." He answered shaking his head slightly at the memory.

Artimes let out a relieved laugh as she hugged the bow tie wearing Timelord. He hugged her in return, his arms wrapped around her tightly like he never wanted to let her go. She listened to his hearts beating and relished that sound.

"Am I still with you?" She asked after a while.

"You're always with me, Artz. You refuse to leave my side no matter what I say or do. You're very stubborn about that." He answered his tone light and amused.

She giggled.

"Definitely sounds like me. Where are we in your timeline?" She asked.

"Just sent the Ponds home after their rather interesting honeymoon and yes, I know a little about what is going to happen. You don't tell me a lot, but you do tell me what I need to know and slap me when I ask for too much." He answered.

Artimes laughed at the image of her slapping him and pulled back from him.

"Do I at least get a kiss before you leave?" She asked hopefully, batting her eyelashes at him.

He blushed slightly before smiling at her, his eyes bright and happy.

"Anything for my Artz." He answered before claiming her mouth with his.

The kiss was far more tender and gentle than the one she had shared with Ten a few hours ago. This one was full of such love and devotion that it made her dizzy with questions…like how they even got together in the first place. Hey, she was not looking a gift horse in the mouth. She thoroughly enjoyed kissing the Doctor and had had fifteen years to tamp down her inner fan girl. There was a clear distinction between fiction and reality for her. This was real life and she was a part of it, but it still didn't change how she felt about this impossible mad man. Her feelings for him had deepened since she had woken up in this world. She couldn't explain it and she honestly didn't care to.

The two finally separated and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"There is so much I want to tell you." He started.

"Spoilers." She interjected making him chuckle.

"Now Artz, this is important. When my past self shows up at your flat, stay with him. Be persistent, don't let him go into the Tardis alone, and Sexy will take care of the rest." He continued taking her hands in his and lifting his forehead off of hers.

She frowned in confusion, her brows furrowing. That was his great plan…leaving it up to the Old Girl to keep them together? She mentally sighed and decided to just go with it. There was no point in arguing and Sexy knew the Doctor better than she did.

"Okay. Basically, get in between a boy and his box, right?" She asked seeking clarification.

He beamed at her like an idiot then kissed her again. His hands, which were around her waist, began to move on their own accord and rove over her body in very enticing ways. The heat began to coil in her lower body and she was increasingly getting warmer and a bit more demanding. He continued his ministrations until someone cleared their throat conspicuously.

"Do you mind not molesting my younger self in the middle of a public street, Theta?" A woman spoke.

The Doctor released the ginger quickly and whirled around.

"Artz, what are you doing here? He asked blushing brightly.

Artimes studied the woman in front of her. Her clothes were very similar to something that the ginger would wear, so there wasn't that much in deviation. Her physical features were not really different from her own, but she did appear to be a few years older. Her hair was a dark read instead of the medium auburn it was now. Her eyes were royal blue as opposed to her current sapphire blue ones and instead of two platinum blond streaks in the front of her hair, it was two silver ones.

One thing stood out above all else, her eyes. Not the color, but the look of them. The eyes of her future self seemed so much older, ancient like the Doctor's. There was so much knowledge there but also wisdom. Shadows seemed to dance within her eyes like echoes of days long past…just like the Doctor. It was those eyes that made her seem so foreign to her present self.

"Simply doing what I remembered, you clot. Now come on, you promised me that we would visit Sherlock and John after we dropped off the Ponds." Her older self answered giving the Timelord a pointed look.

"Whoa, hold on. Time out. Sherlock and John are real?" Artimes interjected making a time out gesture with her hands.

Her older self grinned, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"Oh yes. Bit of a long story. It cannot be told." She started.

"It must be lived." Artimes finished smiling.

Her older self began to drag the Doctor away without another word.

"Just one more question." Artimes stated drawing the pair's attention back to her.

She looked into her older self's eyes and simply had to ask the question that was burning in her mind.

"Am I still me?" The ginger asked looking straight at her older self.

A pained and sad look crossed the Doctor's face, but her older self smiled at her reassuringly.

"We've been through a lot, much more than we should have, but overall yes, you are still you when you are me and don't let this clot convince you otherwise because he doesn't know a damn thing." She answered jerking a thumb at the Doctor playfully.

Artimes smiled at them.

"Say hello to Sherlock and John for me and if Mycroft happens to be there, whack him in the head with his umbrella." The ginger replied smirking.

This made both the Doctor and her future self laugh happily.

"She does it enough as is." The Timelord mentioned.

"Oi! Spoilers!" Both present and future Artimes scolded.

"Okay, on that note, time for us to leave. Dealing with one of you is bad enough, but two is simply asking way too much of this old man." The Doctor commented trying to usher her future self away.

"Now where would the fun in that be?" They asked in unison.

They grinned at each other making the Timelord moan in defeat. Artimes watched her future self pull the Doctor away and into the Tardis. The magical blue box that the red head loved so much disappeared into nothingness. The auburn haired woman looked up at the lightening sky, a soft smile on her lips. Time travel was definitely like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff and yet it certainly made her life more interesting and just a tiny bit fun.

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Lady A: There you have it! Chapter 1: My Past Is Your Future is complete! Originally, it only had the one Doctor showing up, but as I continued writing the chapter, Eleven suddenly popped up and sort of inserted himself into the chapter. Also, the relationship is not moving too fast because both Ten and Eleven were from the future and well Artimes just loves him anyway. Why do you think she didn't have a boyfriend back in the other reality? No man could compare to the Doctor. *grins* Anyways, leave tons and tons of reviews and be on the lookout for Chapter Two: Artz and Rose! Stay tuned!


	2. Chapter 2: Artz and Rose

Lady A: Hey everyone and welcome back to Warrior Saga: Ember! I know, I know, you're all waiting for the next chapter of Rebirth but keep in mind that Rebirth is almost entirely original work and it is rather taxing in the imagination department. Not to mention trying to describe everything so you can get an accurate picture about what is happening. Anyways, I'm apparently rambling so let's get on with it, shall we?

Brief Recap: Artimes Blaine, now Artimes Tyler, was a twenty five year old woman with a love for Doctor Who. She wakes up one day in the body of an eight year old child and ends up adopted by Jackie Tyler. She has her first encounter with the Doctor on New Year's Day and then her second one but with the Eleventh Doctor and her future self in tow about four hours later.

Looking Forward: We learn more about her recent history and how it affects the people around her. She and Rose head into the work and Artimes soon discovers that she is about to meet the Ninth Doctor. They run from the Autons and the Doctor keeps looking at her for some strange reason.

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Chapter Two: Artz and Rose

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*Dreamscape*

Pain…scorching, stabbing, and cascading pain. Artimes could not comprehend the full level of the pain she was feeling. Everything hurt…arms, legs, body, head…every part of her body was in agony. She was screaming so loud and her brain felt like it was on fire, searing and boiling inside her skull. Finally, the pain stopped and abruptly too. She fell to the floor, her breathing heavy and ragged. The scorching flames that once occupied her mind had disappeared and left a hollow, aching void in their wake like she wasn't completely herself anymore...like she had lost something important to her.

A bag was slipped over shoulder and it felt like someone was carrying her, but it was hard to tell with how numb she was feeling. She opened her eyes as she was set down on a vibrating and humming surface that was slightly warm to her clammy and slick skin. Her eyes began to focus and clear and her mouth fell open in shock. It was Clara…Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl, but how was that possible? She was dressed like her Gallifreyan echo in _The Name of the Doctor_.

"Clara." Artimes spoke her voice hoarse from screaming.

"The bag has everything you'll need. It has a perception filter strong enough to keep Rassilon himself from noticing. I'm just inputting the coordinates now. Don't worry, you'll find him again. You always do." Clara explained moving over to a control panel and pressing buttons with one hand while flipping a few switches with the other.

"Clara, what's…" Artimes spoke again, very confused.

"I know that you don't understand what's happening, and you are very confused as to where you are, but I need you to do something for me." Clara interjected looking up from her work.

The sounds of a battle reached Artimes's ears. Things were obviously exploding and there were sounds of something that she could only classify as a phaser fight.

"What?" Artimes asked as she tried to sit up, her body screaming in protest.

Clara smiled softly at her, her eyes sad and kind.

"Run. Run, you clever girl, and remember me." Clara answered softly.

There was a loud explosion, the doors blasting off the frames. The brunette continued flipping switches despite the breach. Artimes watched in horror as a Dalek entered the room and yelled 'Exterminate'. It raised its weapon and shot Clara, her skeleton becoming visible a moment from the impact. The brunette took a shuddering breath as she pressed one final button.

"Run, Warrior, and don't stop till you find him." Clara spoke her eyes dimming.

Artimes was engulfed in a white light, her entire body seeming to hum from the energy coursing through her.

*End Dreamscape*

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Artimes awoke with a gasp, her breathing rapid and shallow. Sweat clung to her body, her night clothes sticking to her. She glanced over at her sleeping sister a moment to see if she had woken her. The blonde continued to sleep peacefully, unaware of her elder sibling's rough awakening. The ginger looked over at the digital alarm clock: 4:38 am. She slid out of bed quietly, careful not to wake her baby sister. The sisters shared the same room considering it was only a two bedroom flat. The ginger didn't mind most of the time, but sometimes her dreams woke her sister.

She made her way to the bathroom. She stripped off her damp clothing and got into the shower. The water was ice cold on her super heated skin, she didn't care. She dreamt the same dream with Clara at least a twice a week, but the other nights were usually filled with horrible nightmares.

Her nightmares could actually be classified as night terrors because of the intricate and realistic nature of them. There were countless people screaming and running, buildings were burning and collapsing, a city in a glass dome in ruins, battles were raging all around, and she was in the center of it all. The things she did in those dreams terrified her beyond measure. She was so full of blood, anger, hatred, and revenge. Worse still, she was fighting on a world with a burnt orange sky, fields of red grass, and trees with silver leaves. She was fighting on Gallifrey and there were Daleks everywhere. She was fighting in the Time War and she didn't know why.

Her eyes screwed shut as the nightmares flowed through her head, her emotions synchronizing with her dreams. She winced at the sudden pain in her right hand. She opened her eyes and saw her fist indented in the shower wall in front of her, the tiles cracked or missing. She mentally berated herself for allowing it to get that far and reacting on impulse to dislodge her from her mind. She pulled her hand back, some of the tiles falling away. Her knuckles were slightly red and were throbbing like mad. She gave the shower wall a distant and empty look, knowing she would have to repair it after work that day.

She finished up with her shower, dried off, and got dressed. Her outfit of choice: dark blue jeans, long sleeved white shirt hanging off her shoulders with a cloth strap across each shoulder, a tight black jacket, black converse, a jean jacket, and a long bright red scarf. She picked up her messenger bag and placed the strap across her right shoulder, the bag resting against her left hip.

It was the same messenger bag from her dream with Clara and she knew for a fact that no one could see it but her. It was also bigger on the inside and contained a lot of things she didn't know what were. She had long since come to the conclusion that her dream about Clara was, in fact, a memory of some sort and she honestly wished that her other nightmares were just nightmares, but a part of her knew it wasn't true.

She walked into the kitchen and made a kettle of tea, her own special blend: a dash of cinnamon, a bit of honey, and a drop or two of lemon. She poured herself a mug and made her way into the living room. She sat down on the couch and stared at the opposite wall. She sipped her tea and allowed her mind to go blank, not really focusing on anything and to keep herself from falling back into her nightmares. She wasn't sure how long she had sat like that, but was startled slightly when her mother offered her a fresh mug of tea. Artimes took it and the elder Tyler sat down next to her on the couch.

"Pepper pots or Clara?" She asked sipping her own tea.

Artimes smiled weakly at her mother's jab at the Daleks. If only she knew about the horrors that the Daleks had caused then she would not be so keen at the idea of insulting them.

"Clara. Sorry about the shower. I'll fix it after work. What time is it anyway?" The ginger responded noticing for the first time the early morning light filtering through the curtains.

"A little after seven." Jackie replied glancing down at the paper on the table, "Ooh, there's a sale at that store you like. Seventy percent off all this week. Maybe we should go shopping this weekend."

Artimes chuckled and looked over the paper herself. She caught sight of the date and she frowned slightly: March 26th, 2005. That date seemed awfully familiar to her. Why did it ring a bell? She sifted through her mind a bit and she smiled slightly. The 26th of March of the year 2005 was the air date of Series One Episode One: Rose for the Doctor Who reboot.

She highly doubted that the air date would coincide with when she and Rose would meet the Doctor, but it certainly made her day a little brighter. She was honestly looking forward to that day and she could finally begin her adventures with that wonderful and impossible man.

She had had four more visits from future Doctors. Three were from Eleven: the first had been after the Florida incident and he wanted to know more about the Silents, the second had been shortly before the events at Lake Silencio, and the third had been after he had lost the Ponds. The second time ended up with her no longer being a virgin and the third turned into a four day spree of dating, dancing, and the universe's best hotel. She knew he needed the comfort and apparently her future self was with River at the time, trying to prevent a Sontaran invasion in the 51st century. The second time, well, she simply couldn't refuse him, knowing he was off to Lake Silencio and believing he was going to die.

Her most recent visit, which was about three weeks ago, had been with Twelve. Kissing the Twelfth regeneration proved to be a rather interesting experience because he was a great deal more aggressive and dominating than Ten and Eleven. Her future self had to literally pry him off of her, otherwise he would have taken her right there in the middle of the street, consequences be damned. It was rather comical to watch him be dragged away by someone who was shorter than him.

She was eternally grateful to the Doctor for those visits. They made her feel less out of place. The whole forty year old trapped in a twenty three year old's body really made her stick out. Her sister didn't mind her elder sibling's odd maturity and simply called her an old soul. Her mother could care less because she acted more like a child than either one of her children.

Artimes heard the alarm going off the sisters' bedroom and knew that Rose would literally be dragging herself out of bed. Her little Rosie absolutely abhorred mornings, thought sunlight was evil before 10:00 am, but both their shifts at Henrick's started in the morning. Rose worked in the clothing department while Artimes worked in the books and literature department.

It didn't take long for the younger Tyler to get ready and the ginger polished off her tea just as her sister grabbed her keys from the bowl on the table. She kissed Jackie's cheek before hauling the red head off the couch. The ginger kissed her mother's cheek hastily so she wouldn't get jerked around by her always impatient kid sister.

"Bye!" The girls yelled heading for the door.

"See you later!" Their mother called after them.

The sisters exited the flat and ran down the stairs of the block of flats where they lived and quickly hopped onto the bus. Artimes stood closer to the exit, her hand on the vertical rail to keep her stabilized. Her sister stood a bit further in, clinging to the hand rail on the back of one the seats.

"You dreamt about Clara last night, didn't you?" Rose asked her grip tightening on the railing as the bus began to move.

Artimes stared out at the blurring cityscape as she sighed heavily. Rose could always read her so easily and she honestly hated how her younger sister worried so much about her. The younger Tyler was commonly the one holding the ginger as she cried after waking up from some of her more horrible nightmares or talking her down when her anger and hatred from her dreams lingered during her waking hours.

"Yeah." The ginger answered her eyes growing distant and a haunted look danced in their sapphire depths.

"I saw the tiles." Rose commented after a moment.

Artimes cringed slightly, remembering the damage she had done to the shower wall. She had to have punched it at least four or five times for the amount of destruction that had occurred. She gave the blonde a guilty look and her sister smiled sadly in understanding.

"Is your hand okay?" The blonde continued worry seeping into her voice.

The ginger's jaw clenched slightly as her attention was drawn to her still slightly throbbing hand. It had been a few hours and it still hurt, but nothing was broken or fractured…might have a bruise later.

"Bit tender. Nothing I can't handle." The red head lied, her eyes shifting back to the passing scenery.

Rose moved from her spot and wrapped her arms around the red head's waist. She set her chin on her right shoulder, her head leaning against her elder sibling's. She gave her a gentle squeeze, her warmth oddly comforting.

"Everything will be okay, Artz. I promise." Rose vowed.

The blonde had no idea how much her elder sister wanted to believe those words, but the only times she didn't have the nightmares were on the nights after the Doctor had visited her. She slept so peacefully after she had been with him or was with him. She had a feeling that the Timelord was the only one who could make them go away permanently.

When they reached their stop, the girls jumped off the bus and headed towards the front doors of Henrick's, their place of work and source of boredom for the younger Tyler. They parted ways, Rose heading for the main floor and Artimes heading over to the 'Book Corner'. The ginger was fortunate to have something to occupy her time that day. She had the privilege and honor of setting up, filling, and organizing their newest display of science fiction and fantasy novels.

Her co workers, Dana and George, were well aware of the red head's high functioning autism and knew how to keep her focused on her work. They made certain that she had a set of written instructions that she could follow for everything to keep her on track and did not disturb her while she was doing her thing. It was one of the benefits of having a single minded and laser tight focus. The things she could do when left to her own devices was extraordinary.

Hours passed by and the ginger didn't even notice the time. Rose came by on her lunch break and saw how focused the red head was. She backed away quietly, making certain not to disrupt her elder sibling. To do so would make the ginger become very confused and it would take over an hour for her to get back into the groove but not with her usual stellar results.

The blonde came by a second time and gave Dana and George her sister's lunch and they promised to make certain that she ate. Three hours later, Artimes finished up with her project and her co workers immediately pounced on her, demanding that she take a lunch break. She laughed and happily did what they asked before returning to work on the smaller projects.

The day continued on and the sisters were finally relinquished from the duties and headed towards the door. The security guard called them back and handed the ginger the lottery money. Rose flat out refused to let her sister go down to the basement alone, knowing how much the red head was skittish around the shop window dummies that were stored down there. After another minute of bickering and a reminder over the intercom about the store closing, they entered the lift together. Artimes blew out a breath, waiting for the lift to open and her sister twitched slightly, somewhat annoyed at how slow the lift could be. It dinged and the doors opened allowing them to exit the lift.

"Wilson?" Rose called as they walked down the corridor.

"Wilson, we've got the lottery money." Artimes informed while having the oddest sense of déjà vu.

They reached his office and Rose knocked on the door.

"You there? Look, we can't hang about 'cause they're closing the shop. Wilson!" The blonde called out hoping he was in his office so they could leave.

They continued walking down the corridor and the ginger's eyes widened at the familiarity of the situation. This was the beginning of Episode One of the series reboot. That explained the incredible amount of déjà vu she had been feeling.

"You've got to be kidding me." The red head mumbled under her breath.

Who would have thought that the air date was the actual date in the show? A sudden noise further along in the corridor caused the sisters to snap their heads in that direction. Artimes slipped the lottery money into her bag, knowing it was no use to simply hold onto it when they would be running soon.

"Hello? Hello, Wilson, it's Artz and Rose. Hello? Wilson?" Rose called as the pair stopped in front of a fire door.

Artimes tried to keep herself calm, knowing what was behind that door. She never liked coming down to the basement because of all the dummies and she had just cause to be frightened. Rose opened the door, completely oblivious to her sister's rising discomfort, and revealed a room full of shop window dummies. Artimes turned on the light and they walked further into the room. Rose tried another door at the side, leaving the ginger alone for a moment. The fire door through which they had entered closed abruptly, making the red head jump at the sound.

Instead of checking the door like she had done in the show, Rose immediately returned to her sister's side. She took her sister's hand as one of the dummies began to move towards them.

"You got us, very funny." Rose stated as the dummy drew closer to them.

"I'm not laughing." Artimes said quietly, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

The ginger pulled the blonde with her as she backed up a bit. Two more dummies joined the first one.

"Right, we've got the joke! Whose idea was this? Was it Derek's?" Rose questioned starting to become frightened.

The dummies continued to advance and the ginger pulled her sister's left arm to force her back further. All of her instincts were focused on protecting her baby sister. If she had to, she would try to fight them off or at least shield the younger Tyler.

"Derek, is this you?" Rose tried one last time.

"Definitely not Derek." Artimes whispered.

The girls continued to back up until they ran into a wall. The dummies lifted their arms to attack them. They screwed their eyes shut and waited for the blow. Suddenly, a hand slipped into the ginger's effortlessly and a great sense of safety washed over her. The ginger's eyes snapped open and her head whipped to the left. She grinned when her gaze fell upon the Ninth Doctor.

"Run." He ordered dragging both her and Rose from the room, barely dodging their attacks.

They ran down a corridor, dummies trying to break through on either side. The dummies from the storm room quickly followed the trio. The Doctor led them to another lift, dragging both girls inside. Rose pressed herself flat against the back as one of the dummies reached inside the lift to grab them. The Doctor and Artimes worked together and yanked the arm away from the body, allowing the doors to close.

"You pulled his arm off!" Rose exclaimed stating the obvious.

"Yep!" Both Artimes and the Doctor replied in unison.

"Plastic." The Timelord continued tossing the arm to her younger sister.

"Very clever, nice trick! Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what?" Rose questioned trying to get answers and probably to calm her heart rate.

"Why would they be students?" Both the ginger and the Timelord asked together.

The Doctor glanced her way, sending her a perplexed look.

"Sorry." Artimes mumbled looking away.

"Why would they be students?" The Timelord repeated continuing to stare at the red head with curiosity.

"I don't know." The blonde answered slightly irritated with how the Doctor was eying up her elder sister.

"You're the one who said it, Sis. Why students?" Artimes countered before the Timelord could speak.

She tried very hard to ignore the intrigued look she was getting from the Doctor. Why was he staring at her? She couldn't be that interesting considering they had only just met.

"'Cause…to get that many people dressed up and being silly…they gotta be students." Rose answered trying to rationalize what had just happened to them.

The Doctor grinned at the younger Tyler before glancing at the red head with that same curious and intrigued expression on his face.

"That makes sense. Well done." The Doctor stated turning his attention back to the front of the lift.

"Thanks." The blonde replied not really believing he was being genuine in his praise.

"They're not students." Artimes and the Doctor said in unison.

The ginger mumbled out another apology when he gave her an 'Are you serious?' look. His calculating blue eyes roamed over her and she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.

"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's gonna call the police." Rose informed trying to distract the Timelord from her sister once more.

"Who's Wilson?" The Doctor asked directing his question towards the ginger, much to the younger Tyler's annoyance.

"Chief electrician." Artimes answered without hesitation.

The lift dinged and the doors opened.

"Wilson's dead." The Timelord replied his tone serious as he stepped out of the lift.

Artimes quickly followed him, Rose closely on her heels.

"That's just not funny, that's sick!" Rose commented in outrage.

Artimes chose to remain silent, knowing that the Doctor spoke the truth and she silently mourned the loss of her fellow co worker. Wilson had been a good man, a bit of a nutter at times, but a rather friendly bloke all the same. He didn't deserve to die, but there was simply no way of changing what had already occurred.

"Hold on! Mind your eyes." The Doctor commanded pushing the girls to the side.

The Timelord disabled the lift with his sonic screwdriver, the control panel sparking a bit.

"I've had enough of this now!" Rose stated not happy in the slightest.

The Doctor walked away, seemingly ignoring the blonde. His gaze flickered to the ginger from time to time when the girls started following him again. What was so intriguing about her that caused him to look at her like that? There was always such a deep sadness in his eyes when he looked at her face. Did she remind him of someone? To her knowledge, she didn't look like any of his former companions…maybe someone from the Time War? It seemed unlikely but not entirely beyond the realm of possibilities.

"Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?" The blonde demanded as they attempted to keep up with the Timelord's brisk pace.

Damn men and their long legs!

"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device on the roof. Which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." He answered pulling a small rectangular bomb from his pocket and showing it to them.

"Oh, don't blow up our jobs, you clot." Artimes chastised playfully, earning a warm smile from the Doctor.

He opened the exterior fire door for them and pushed them out hastily.

"She's right. I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me, no. Go home, go on! Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." He rambled his eyes barely wavering from the ginger's face, his eyes filled with a longing she didn't understand.

He shut the door, leaving Rose in a state of confusion. Artimes, however, simply waited for the Doctor to reappear, a smile on her face. He opened the door again, grinning a bit when he noticed how happy the ginger was to see him again.

"I'm the Doctor, by the way, what's your names?" He asked once again staring at the red head, but she was getting used to it.

"Artimes." The ginger answered as she watched shock, pain, sadness, and grief pass through his eyes rapidly before returning to their normal state.

"Rose." The blonde responded slightly stunned by his reappearance.

"Nice to meet you, Artz and Rose." He replied the sound of her nickname made her very confused.

She had said her name was Artimes and Rose never mentioned her nickname during their conversation with him, so how did he know it? He hadn't been close enough to hear it when they had been in the corridor either.

"Run for your life." He continued quickly shutting the door again.

Artimes let out a bark of laughter at how casually he had said that before she dragged her bewildered younger sibling across the road, narrowly avoiding an irate taxi driver. They ran a bit further down the street before looking back at the store for a moment. Both girls jumped as the top floor of the store exploded, flames licking at the dark sky. Rose grabbed her sister's hand and urged her to run down the street. The ginger smiled softly as they ran past a blue police box. This was the start of something brand new and Artimes honestly couldn't wait till she met up with the Doctor again.

* * *

Lady A: Chapter 2: Artz and Rose is complete! Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Almost forty five hundred words. Not bad at all. Now leave tons and tons of reviews and be on the lookout for Chapter 3: Not So Armless! Stayed tuned!


	3. Chapter 3: Not So Armless

Lady A: Hey everyone and welcome back to Warrior Saga: Ember! I apologize for the long wait but I have been working on the Legacy Saga. It's a little time consuming. Anyways, let's get on with things, shall we?

Brief Recap: We learned that Artimes has terrible nightmares about the Time War and that for some unknown reason, only the Doctor can make them go away. Speaking of said Timelord, the Tyler sisters had their first encounter with the Ninth Doctor and he blew up their job!

Looking Forward: Artimes and Rose are reunited with the Doctor the next day and all hell breaks loose. Why is the Doctor staring at Artimes? What is so damn interesting about her?

On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Three: Not So Armless

* * *

Artimes barely paid attention to the TV as the reporters rambled on and on about the explosion at Henrick's. The red head was sitting on the far left of the couch with her sister sitting in the middle. The ginger's right hand was entwined with the blonde's left hand. Rose seemed honestly shaken by what had occurred with the Timelord, but Artimes knew that this was mild in comparison to the Doctor's usual adventures. His adventures were usually fraught with peril, near death experiences, terrible creatures, amazing sights, awe inspiring events, and a whole lot of running.

Artimes was brought out of her thoughts when their mother walked in, gabbing on the phone like the socialite she was. She handed them each a mug of hot tea. The ginger sipped hers a little, relishing how the hot liquid flowed down to her stomach and warming her from the inside out. She still remembered the warmth of the Doctor's hand in hers and she honestly missed him already.

"I know, it's on the telly! It's everywhere! They're lucky to be alive! Honestly, it's aged them. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was _their_ daughter!" Jackie rambled into the phone, the ginger shaking her head slightly at her mother's antics before Mickey appeared in the doorway, "Oh and here's himself…"

"I've been phoning your mobiles, you two could've been dead! It's on the news and everything! I can't believe that your shop went up!" He ranted hugging them both before plopping down next to Rose.

"Believe it, Micks." The red head answered setting her mug down on the glass coffee table.

The action reminded her of what was going to happen and she would have to remember to move the coffee table to the other side of the room. She really didn't want Rose and the Doctor to shatter it when they fell and possibly hurt themselves. Thinking of the Doctor brought a small smile to her face.

"We're alright, honestly, we're fine! Don't make a fuss." Rose placated not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

"Well, what happened?" Mickey asked curious.

'Nothing in particular, Micks. Just a time traveling alien with two hearts blowing up our job to stop creatures made up of living plastic from killing us and conquering the world.' Artimes thought wryly, trying to keep the smirk off her face.

"I don't know." The blonde answered.

Mickey looked over at the red head, expecting a different answer.

"What? Why are you looking at me like I know?" The ginger asked her eyes flashing in irritation.

"You usually do." He answered like it was obvious.

She had to begrudgingly admit that her dark skinned friend had a point. Since she woke up in this world, the red head always seemed to know what was going on or about to happen. This time was no different except for the fact that she had already seen this in the reality she was born in, but she was going to conveniently forget to mention it at that moment.

"Well I don't, Micks." The ginger replied letting slip her annoyance about his constant pestering.

Early Mickey was always such a nuisance, not to mention a hassle. Rose stroked the back of her hand with her thumb in a calming manner. Artimes bit back the urge to verbally rip her sister's boyfriend a new one and sighed quietly, letting her head fall back and rest on the couch.

"What was it though, what caused it?" Mickey continued unaware of the red head's growing anger.

Artimes involuntarily squeezed her sister's hand in a show of increasing irritation, making her younger sibling glance at her briefly.

"We weren't in the shop, we were outside, we didn't see anything." Rose answered recognizing the early signs of her elder sister's temper.

Rose knew that if Artimes lost control of her temper for even a moment, the fury and hatred from her nightmares would surge to the surface and make her do something she would regret. It had happened several times while they had been growing up when bullies would hurt the blonde and her sister would lose it. Rose was scared of the sapphire eyes that burned with a cold rage but she was never afraid of her sister because the moment her elder sibling looked at her that anger would vanish and be replaced with the warm and kind sapphires she loved so much.

Fortunately, their mother walked back in, babbling on about some interview they sisters could do for five hundred quid. The younger Tyler grabbed the phone, hung up on the caller making her sister snort in amusement, and placed the phone on the table. Artimes closed her eyes and tried to drown out the chaos for a moment.

"What are you drinking? Tea? No, no, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock, the both of you. You two need something stronger." Mickey commented placing Rose's mug on the table as the ginger opened her eyes.

"Why?" Both girls asked in unison.

"You deserve a proper drink, the three of us, we're going down the pub, my treat. How about it?" He answered quickly, hope flashing in his eyes.

"Is there a match on?" Artimes asked a smirk on her lips and a knowing look in her eyes.

"I'm just thinking about you two, honest!" He answered hastily, trying to cover up the real reason he wanted to go to the pub.

Both girls smiled at him, seeing through his excuse easily.

"There's a match, ain't there?" Rose asked smiling more.

"Well, that's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes." Mickey answered giving up the ruse and looking at them with hope filled eyes.

"Go on then, don't mind us." Artimes replied chuckling.

"We're fine, really. Go. Get rid of that." The blonde concurred before gesturing to the plastic arm in the sitting chair.

Mickey pointed to his lips and Rose gave him a kiss. He pushed her back onto the couch playfully. He then looked at Artimes and pointed to his cheek. The ginger rolled her eyes as she leaned forward and placed a light kiss to his cheek. The trio laughed as he got up to go. Both the red head and the blonde stuck out a leg to try and trip him up a bit. He stumbled, but laughed at their antics all the same. He picked up the arm and waved with it.

"Buh Bye!" He said a high pitched tone.

"Bye!" Rose replied smiling.

"See ya, Micks." Artimes responded shaking her head at him.

The red head's jovial mood quickly evaporated when Mickey pretended to strangle himself with the arm before leaving. Rose shook her head fondly before glancing at her sister. Her sister's sapphire blue eyes held that distant look that Rose hated. It made her heart ache seeing her sister so tormented. Artimes was always so kind and so loving. It wasn't fair for her to have such horrible dreams. Why her?

Suddenly, the look in the ginger's eyes vanished and she stood up. Rose watched her sister in confusion as she moved the glass coffee table to the other side of the room, leaving the middle of the floor empty. Artimes offered no explanation for her actions as she left the room, presumably to fix the tiles in the shower.

* * *

At 7:30 am, Rose's alarm went off like it usually did every day. The blonde whacked it to make it stop beeping. She sat up and immediately noticed that her sister was still in bed and still very much asleep.

"There's no point in getting up, sweethearts. You've got no jobs to go to." Their mother's voice said faintly from somewhere in the flat.

Why was Artimes still asleep? Rose was not unhappy about this fact. It was just really odd and really rare for her sister to sleep through the night. It had only happened maybe three or four times in the last few months…since New Year's in fact. The blonde could tell from the soft smile on the ginger's face that she was not plagued by her usual nightmares.

The only thing that had changed about their day had been the Doctor. Could it have something to do with that strange leather wearing bloke that blew up their jobs? That didn't make sense because they had only just met him and didn't account for the other three or four times. Rose sighed and just laid back down, letting her elder sibling get some much deserved sleep.

* * *

Artimes walked into the living room a few hours later as her mother rattled on about something to do with some Greek woman named Arianna. She was very pleased that the glass coffee table was exactly where she had left it the night before. Her eyes lit up with happiness, a smile appearing on her face as she heard the faint but familiar buzzing sound of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. He was here…he was actually here. Her body hummed with excitement and anticipation, her heart beating faster at her soon-to-be reunion with the Timelord.

"Mum, you're such a liar, Artz and I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays!" Rose scolded as she stood up in the kitchen.

Artimes followed her sister as she entered the living room and headed towards the front door, the smile never leaving her face.

"I did it weeks back!" Jackie informed from her bedroom.

"No, you thought about it!" The younger Tyler replied going to investigate.

Rose soon discovered that the screws had fallen out of the door and onto the floor. The cat flap moved violently and the blonde leaped back. She glanced at her sister who motioned for her to go on. She knelt down and poked the cat flap open gingerly, much to the red head's amusement. She opened it completely and revealed the Doctor's face outside. Rose gasped as she scurried up from the floor and hastily opened the door.

"What're you two doing here?" The Doctor asked honestly confused.

"We live here, obviously." Artimes answered crossing her arms and smirking at him.

"Well, what do you do that for?" He asked a smile forming on his lips as he looked over at the ginger.

His eyes seemed so much happier when she showed up, but at the same time there was so much sadness. It was like he was caught between joy and sorrow.

"Because we do! And we're only at home because someone blew up our jobs." Rose accused highly annoyed at the Timelord's lingering gaze on her sister.

"I told him not to, but he didn't listen." The red head stated smiling, seeing a brief flash of amusement flit across his eyes.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and glanced at it, no doubt reading the results of the signal he had been tracking.

"Must've got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?" He rambled knocking Rose's forehead with his knuckles but only tapping the ginger's forehead lightly, like he was almost afraid to hurt her, "No, boneheads. Bye then!"

He made to leave but Rose was not having any of that.

"You, inside." She ordered dragging him in, "Right now."

Artimes shut the door with a smirk.

"There are so many things I could say about that sentence." The ginger whispered softly to the Timelord, her eyes communicating just how far into the gutter her mind had gone for a moment.

The Doctor blushed slightly at her implied meaning and swallowed hard. He stared at her a moment longer before clearing his throat quietly and looking away.

"Who is it?" Jackie inquired.

Rose poked her head into their mother's bedroom.

"It's about last night, he's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes." The younger Tyler answered moving towards the kitchen.

"They deserve compensation." The elder blonde commented sternly.

"Huh, we're talking millions." The Doctor responded with his usual charm.

Artimes spared him the highly awkward and potentially embarrassing moment by pushing him down the hallway. She smiled briefly at her mother before closing the bedroom door to muffle the sounds that would be occurring later from the struggle with the plastic arm.

"What did you do that for?" The Timelord questioned as she joined him in the living room.

"Did you want my mother flirting with you?" The red head asked a knowing smile on her lips.

"No." The Doctor answered in the same tone he had used from the show.

"See? I did you a service." The ginger replied earning a chuckle from him.

Rose was chattering away but neither the Timelord nor her elder sister were paying her any mind. The Doctor let his eyes roam over the auburn haired woman, a mixture of happiness and sadness swirling in his eyes. Their eyes met and the Doctor unknowingly took a step towards her, his right hand reaching up and cupping her face. She leaned into his touch, completely unafraid of him, her own eyes warm and kind. He opened his mouth to say something but then realized what he was doing. He stepped away, letting his hand drop to his side. His eyes were a storm of emotions and her heart broke a little at how off balance he was. Something about her was hurting him and she didn't know why.

He moved away from her further and started examining the room. His eyes flickered about like he was trying to find something to focus on besides the red haired woman. He finally picked up a gossip magazine and perused the cover.

"That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien." He commented quietly.

Artimes moved closer to him, determined to help him somehow.

"How can you tell?" She asked glancing at the magazine herself.

She missed the intrigued and curious look she received from the Timelord. She also missed how he leaned down slightly and inhaled deeply, a peaceful expression on his face. He shook his head slightly, pain and sadness flashing across his eyes. He set down the magazine and picked up a book, flipping through it rapidly.

"Sad ending." He stated trying to keep his focus away from her.

"Have you read it before?" The red head asked not really expecting an answer from him.

She moved closer to him again and took the book from his hands and setting it down in its proper place. The Doctor glanced at her, his confused and sad eyes meeting her curious and amused ones. He seemed to notice how little space there was between them and quickly shifted his attention elsewhere. He picked up a couple of envelopes and she saw the grief filled look in his eyes again, but it lasted only a moment.

"Artimes and Rose Tyler." He read setting them back down.

He glanced around a bit more and his eyes landed on the mirror hanging on the wall.

"Ahh, could've been worse!" He commented before flicking at his ears a bit, "Look at me' ears."

Artimes moved over to him, her arm brushing against his.

"I like them. Gives you character." She commented smiling at him.

He looked down at her, his eyes shifting between confused, pleased, and pained. He finally settled on pleased and beamed at her. The ginger blushed slightly and he gave her a cheeky grin, making her giggle at his antics. The spark his eyes were lacking returned and he picked up a deck of cards. He made certain the red head was watching him before he shuffled the deck dramatically, making her smile widely.

"Luck be a lady." He sang trying to shuffle them again.

It ended in disaster as the cards went flying everywhere. Artimes laughed a little, earning a playful scowl from the Timelord.

"Maybe not." He started then heard the scuffling noise from behind the sofa, "What's that then? You got a cat?"

Artimes saw the arm go behind the couch and she silently cursed.

"Doctor, don't…" She warned as he knelt down on the couch to look behind it.

The plastic arm leaped up and grabbed his neck, strangling him. Artimes ignored Rose as she tried to help the Timelord, her fear sky rocketing. The blonde walked in and set the cups down on the side table since Artimes had originally moved the coffee table.

"I told Mickey to chuck that out." Rose commented completely oblivious to the fact that the Doctor was actually being choked to death by a plastic arm.

The younger Tyler turned back to the struggling pair.

"Honestly, you two and your plastic hand. Anyway, we don't even know your name, Doctor…what was it?" Rose continued.

The Doctor finally threw the arm off and it stopped mid air. The arm then decided to attack the person closest to it which happened to be Artimes instead of Rose. It collided with her face, covering her nose and mouth, and forced her against a wall. It was impossible for her to breath and her eyes were beginning to water from the lack of oxygen. Both the Doctor and her sister tried to remove the arm but it wouldn't budge.

Her lungs felt like they were on fire and her mind flashed to her dream with Clara, the horrible burning that scorched through her very soul. She was yanked from her thoughts as the pair jerked her forward and onto the floor. If she hadn't moved the coffee table, it would have been shattered. Her vision was starting to darken and she was not quite sure how she got on to the couch. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and with on final tug, he pulled the arm away from her face. She gasped for breath, coughing and sputtering at the sudden intake of oxygen.

Rose quickly sat next to her and rubbed her back soothingly until she was in control of her breathing again. The sisters watched the Timelord as he pointed the sonic device in the middle of the palm and the arm stopped moving.

"It's alright, I've stopped it. There you go, you see?" He started tossing the arm to Rose, "'Armless."

"Do you think?" The blonde asked thoroughly annoyed by his casual behavior.

She used the plastic hand and whacked him on the shoulder hard.

"Ow!" He complained rubbing his arm and pouting like a child.

Artimes slid off the couch and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him closely.

"Thank you for saving me." She whispered softly.

The Doctor stiffened under the initial contact, but after a few moments, he hugged her back, his face and hands buried in her hair. She knew he rarely got thanked, if ever, for the amazing and wonderful things he did and she wanted to at least give him that much. Now she just had to find a way to stay with him and not get left behind. How do you get in between a boy and his box?

* * *

Lady A: Voila! Chapter 3: Not So Armless is complete! I had fun doing this chapter, mainly because we get to see some of the little nuances between Artimes and the Doctor. We'll eventually get some from the Doctor's perspective which will help clear up why he is reacting to her the way he is. Anyways, leave tons and tons of reviews and be on the lookout for Chapter Four: Swanning Off! Stay tuned!


	4. Chapter 4: Swanning Off

Lady A: Hey everyone and welcome back to the second installment of the Warrior Saga, Ember! I do apologize for not updating this story sooner but both Phoenix Saga: Origin and Warrior Saga: Rebirth were calling to me. Also, though it is not a requirement, but might be helpful to the comprehension of this story, I suggest you read Warrior Saga: Rebirth. It is rated M because it does happen before and during the Time War, so there is some very bad things at times. I might bump it back to rated T because it isn't that bad yet. It doesn't turn mega dark until like the end of Chapter Nine, maybe when Chapter Ten is done. Anyways, my suggestion is to read Rebirth alongside Ember…and leave reviews!

Thanks to all those who faved, followed and reviewed this story and the others! Much love to Arya, Winry, Hannah, and Grape for their continuing support. This chapter is dedicated to you guys.

* * *

Brief Recap: Mickey tries to pull a ruse about the girls needing a stronger drink after their traumatic experience just so he could catch the tail end of a match down at the pub. The girls waved him off and they went to bed. Rose discovers the odd effect the Doctor has on her sister and how the red head slept through the night without her usual nightmares. The sisters are then reunited with the mysterious Doctor and Artimes and the Timelord have a nice conversation…sort of. Anyways, the arm attacks them and the ginger ended up in the line of fire. The Doctor saved her and she hugged him in her appreciation, surprising the nine hundred year old alien.

Looking Forward: The Doctor is running off and the girls are giving chase. The Timelord is becoming accustomed to the odd things a certain ginger says and is enjoying her company while trying to shrug off her younger sister's questions. The Doctor does his whole epic speech about the world turning and Rose gets a bit overloaded. Artimes, on the other hand, continues after him. After some words, she gets in between him and the Tardis. He tries to move around her but she falls through the doors, bringing the Timelord down with her. The door shut and the ship took off and oh my, Artimes is hearing voices in her head…oh it's just one voice.

Now enough spoilers from me! On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Four: Swanning Off

* * *

The Doctor walked down the stairs of the complex at a brisk pace, the Tyler sisters in hot pursuit and the blonde wanting answers while the ginger just didn't want to be left behind by the nine hundred year old, time traveling alien.

"Hold on a minute! You can't just go swanning off!" Artimes yelled trying to keep up with his long legs.

"Yes I can. Here I am, this is me, swanning off. See ya!" He replied cheerily, making her smile at his cheekiness.

"That arm was moving! It tried to kill my sister!" Rose shouted extremely annoyed by the leather clad Timelord's attitude.

"Ten out of ten for observation." Both the Doctor and Artimes said together.

The Timelord simply shook his head at the ginger, a fond smile on his face. Artimes grinned back, happy that he seemed to be doing better. Rose glared at the long legged alien for poking fun at her. Only her sister had the right to do that, not him and she didn't take too kindly to how he kept looking at her and acting so familiar with her. Let's just say she was a little jealous of how easily they got along after knowing each other for such a short time. Come to think of it, when was the last time her sister was ever this friendly towards someone?

"You can't just walk away! That's not fair! You've got to tell us what's going on!" Rose demanded changing thought tracks.

This man was different from everyone else and her sister was responding to that. The ginger seemed honestly happy with the strange man that blew up their jobs.

"No, he doesn't." Artimes said at the same time he said, "No, I don't."

The Timelord gave her a curious look before simply smiling at her. He reached the bottom of the stairs and went through the doors. He was already on the street by the time the girls exited the staircase. They ran after the leather clad alien and swiftly caught up to him.

"Alright then. We'll go to the police. We'll tell everyone. You said, if we did that, we'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell us or we'll start talking." Rose threatened making her elder sibling look at her questioningly.

"Is that supposed to sound tough?" The ginger asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sort of." The blonde answered slightly less confident than before.

"Doesn't work." The Doctor replied casting an amused look at the ginger, who was struggling to keep up with him.

He slowed down marginally and she shot him a look of gratitude. His eyes softened and he was about to reach out for her hand when Rose interrupted his thoughts.

"Who are you?" The blonde demanded trying to get his attention away from her sister.

"He told us already. He's the Doctor." Artimes answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The Timelord flashed the red head an appreciative smile causing her to blush and chuckle a little.

"Yeah, but Doctor what?" Rose asked trying to understand.

"Just the Doctor." He answered cheekily.

"The Doctor." The blonde repeated in disbelief.

"Hello!" He replied giving the younger Tyler a little wave.

Artimes couldn't stop herself from snorting in a vain attempt to keep herself from laughing. Within a fraction of a second, the giggles erupted from her mouth on their own accord. Rose shot her a glare, very unhappy that her elder sister was laughing at her, but the Timelord smiled at the ginger haired woman, glad that at least someone saw the humor in their current situation.

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" The ginger asked smirking, a playful look in her eyes.

"Sort of." He answered his eyes barely wavering from hers.

Rose almost felt like a third wheel with how her sister and the leather wearing bloke were silently communicating with their eyes and body movements. It was like they had known each other for years and it was very disconcerting to the young blonde. She had never seen her sister hold that level of familiarity with anyone before and it was both shocking and kind of nice at the same time. Artimes had always seemed out of step with the rest of the world, but now because if this odd fellow, she seemed completely at ease...like she had found where she belonged.

"Come on. You can tell us. We've seen enough. Are you the police?" She asked trying to understand this strange man that had such a profound effect on the crimson haired woman.

"Do the police blow up buildings?" The red head countered giving a meaningful look at the blue eyed man.

The Doctor chuckled at her rhetorical question, his eyes dancing in amusement.

"No. I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home." He answered as his eyes momentarily lost their former luster and filled with a deep sadness that made the ginger's heart ache in response.

She knew exactly how he felt. Her world, her home, her brother…all of it was gone and there was no way for her to return home. She understood his pain better than anyone and she honestly wished that she knew what to say or do to make him feel better. She was fighting the incredibly strong urge to hug him and hold him close, to give him her strength, but she kept herself in control. Now was not the time to lose emotional control and slip up about her true origins.

"But what have we done wrong? How comes those plastic things keep coming after us?" Rose asked breaking through her sister's morose thoughts.

"They weren't after us, Rosie. They were after him. We were just an accident." Artimes piped up.

"It tried to kill you, Artz!" The blonde snapped frustrated by the entire situation and how her sister seemed to side with the blue eyed alien so easily.

"She's right though. It was after me, not you two! Last night, in the shop, I was there, you two blundered it. Almost ruined the whole thing." He started.

"Sorry for doing our jobs, you clot." Artimes mumbled a little ticked off that he was trying to blame them for something that wasn't their fault.

The Timelord heard her comment and flashed her an apologetic smile, silently saying he was sorry, before continuing on his rant.

"This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down…the only reason it fixed on you two is that you met me." He explained.

"So, what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you." Rose commented sarcastically.

"Sort of, yeah." He replied making the ginger snort in amusement at how quickly he had responded.

"You're full of it!" The blonde responded thinking he was a complete nutter.

"Sort of, yeah." He replied in the same tone as before.

Artimes was trying very hard not to laugh at the hilarity of this situation. She had totally forgotten how funny this particular scene had been in the show and it was even funnier now that she was seeing it in person.

"But, all this plastic stuff…who else knows about it?" Rose asked giving the red head time to calm herself and get back to business.

"No one." He answered slight tinge of loneliness in his voice.

"You're on your own." The ginger said making it a statement rather than a question.

The Doctor took it as a question though and proceeded to answer it.

"Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly! When all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on!" He rambled not noticing the effect his words had on the red head.

Rose saw how her sister's body stiffened at the word 'war' and the distant look she loathed returned to her elder sibling's eyes. The younger Tyler knew she needed to distract the Timelord while her sister got a hold of herself. She reached across the leather wearing bloke and grabbed the plastic arm from him, effectively distracting him from her sister and giving the ginger the time she needed to force back the memories of her recurring nightmares.

"Okay, start from the beginning." Rose ordered, the Doctor's attention staying on the blonde for a moment as she talked, "If you're gonna go with this living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do…how did you kill it?"

The blonde glanced quickly at her sister, seeing the internal struggle, and determined that she needed just a little more time.

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead." The Doctor answered about to shift his attention back to her sister to find out why she was so quiet.

"So that's radio control?" Rose asked redirecting him back to her for a moment.

The blonde's question seemed to snap her elder sibling back into the present and Rose nearly sighed in relief, but caught herself before she did.

"It can't be radio control. I had a good look at that arm last night. There were no signs of wires, cables, or circuitry of any kind. It was solid plastic." Artimes answered.

"Well done. It wasn't radio control. It's thought control." The Doctor replied giving the ginger an impressed look.

She blushed slightly, looking away quickly from his intense and curious gaze. He made her so flustered that it was ridiculous…not to mention, she absolutely loved his pale blue eyes. Out of all his regenerations, the Ninth Doctor had the best eyes in her opinion, followed by Eleven's green eyes and Ten's brown eyes.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked when the younger Tyler had remained silent too long.

Artimes wondered briefly what her sister had been thinking about to make her have such an introspective look on her face.

"Yeah, so who's controlling it then?" Rose asked shaking her head slightly and getting back on track.

"Long story." The Doctor answered immediately, not really wanting to talk about it.

"Long walk." Artimes sassed sending him a playful smirk and not letting him side step the question so easily.

She could see that he was trying really hard not to laugh. Rose spoke up, only adding to his amusement for the moment.

"But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies…what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?" The younger Tyler joked.

The trio descended into laughter despite the seriousness of their current situation and topic of discussion.

"No." Both he and the ginger answered together, still chuckling.

"I know." Rose responded smiling widely.

"It's not a price war." He replied laughing again before becoming serious very quickly, "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?"

"No." Rose answered at the exact time Artimes said, "Yes."

"You believe him?" The blonde asked surprised.

"Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true." Artimes answered quoting Sherlock Holmes.

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, very good." The Doctor commented before looking over at Rose for a moment, "And you're still listening."

The younger Tyler stopped, grabbing her sister's hand and forcing her to stop as well.

"Really though, Doctor. Tell us, who are you?" The blonde asked tired of their little game and wanting proper answers.

The Doctor stopped and looked back at them, but at the ginger specifically.

"Do you know like we were saying? About the Earth revolving?" He started walking back over to them, "It's like when you were kids. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it."

He took their hands in his own and Artimes was overcome by a strange and powerful sensation unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was like she could feel the world turning just like he said and she realized he was using a mild form of his touch telepathy, probably without realizing it too. It felt weird yet incredibly right...like she could almost feel life exploding around her and time flowing by like a river. It was exhilarating and disconcerting, but totally awesome as well. Did he feel like that all the time? Was that what it meant to be a Timelord?

"The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, the three of us. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go…" He continued dropping Rose's hand but Artimes clung to his other hand, refusing to drop it.

He gave her a rather sorrowful expression when he removed his hand from hers, his strength much greater than her own. In that instant of time, she felt like she had lost something very important when he let go and she didn't like how it made her feel. She felt off balance and almost incomplete, the void in her mind becoming a little more noticeable to her.

"That's who I am. Now, forget me, Artz and Rose Tyler." He ordered taking the plastic arm and waving it front of the blonde's face, "Go home."

The younger Tyler turned around and walked away, overloaded by everything she had seen, heard and felt. Artimes, on the other hand, was not about to let him go and she ran after the Doctor. She started walking backwards in front of him, forcing the Timelord to slow down slightly to not bump into her.

"Did you really think that I would give up on you so easily, Doctor?" She asked giving him a pointed look.

"Go home, Artz. It's too dangerous." He answered continuing towards the Tardis.

She stayed with him and finally put herself in between him and the blue box that was his home, both coming to a stop.

"I'm staying with you." She stated firmly, her eyes burning with determination.

She could see the struggle in his pale blue eyes. A part of him wanted her to stay, but the other part of him wanted to keep her safe.

"No, Artz." He denied trying to move past her but she blocked him.

"I'm not gonna leave you on your own. It's wrong, it's so wrong." She countered keeping herself directly in front of him and away from the Tardis doors.

He stopped and looked at her, trying to understand what she meant.

"Why? Why is it wrong?" He asked softly, his eyes sad and the longing in those pale blue depths made her heart clench painfully in response.

"I can see it in your eyes. Hell, I felt it when you took my hand: sadness, pain, loss, grief, loneliness, and a whole lot of regret. Something terrible happened to you, something that hurt you deeply. My heart aches seeing you like this, so torn up and lost. All I know is that you need someone. If for no other reason than to simply be there." She answered her eyes starting to water slightly.

His pale blue eyes were raging with a storm of emotions. She had hit the nail on the head perfectly and it was causing him to become emotionally raw and very quickly too. He looked at her with so much pain and sadness in his eyes that she nearly cried.

"No." He stated sternly, trying to reach for the doors.

Artimes backed up until she was pressed against the wood. She cried out in surprise when the doors suddenly swung inward. She fell backwards and brought the Doctor down with her when she grabbed onto his leather jacket. They landed hard on the grating, a mess of tangled limbs and the Timelord fully in between her legs. They heard the doors slamming shut of their own accord and locking. The wheezing and groaning sound indicated that the Tardis had taken flight into the Time Vortex by her own choosing.

'Welcome home, my Artz.' A female voice spoke in the ginger's mind.

* * *

Lady A: Voila! Chapter 4: Swanning Off is complete! A bit of humor and wit in this chapter and then a bit of seriousness. Anyways, things become interesting in the next chapter so leave tons and tons of reviews and be on the lookout for Chapter 5: Kindred Spirit! Stay Tuned and have a box of tissues ready!


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